Quality Should Keep Pace With Quantitative Improvement of Press
February 8, 1998 - 0:0
TEHRAN Increasing the number of print media without paying due attention to the qualitative improvement of the press will be a great disaster, Professor Hamid Mowlana told the Tehran Times on Thursday. Evaluating the achievements of the Iranian press, he stressed that although the multiplicity of the press is desirable, if this abundance fails to bring up professional journalists it would lead to wastage of national resources.
Training professional journalists to meet the requirements of the press should keep pace with the superstructural measures taken by cultural authorities. Mowlana, who is here at the invitation of the Ahl-ul-Bait World Assembly, to attend its 5-day conference, is of the opinion that the prevailing condition of the press is not satisfactory, for the Iranian officials have overlooked the training of professional journalists.
Mowlana said that although great strides have been taken in the country's press as compared to the years preceding the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, there is still a long way ahead. Mowlana, 61, worked with a leading Iranian daily Kayhan after he received his high school diploma in Tehran. Presently residing in the U.S., he received his Ph.D. in communications and international politics from North Western University in Evanston, Chicago. He has been teaching international relations and communications and conducting research in the same fields in various universities of the world for the past 33 years.
Highly interested in journalism, Professor Mowlana was the president of International Institute for Research in Communication and Mass Media. As a practical measure to improve the press, he suggested, the Iranian officials should avoid belittling Iranian journalists. They should bear in mind that if they interview with foreign journalists and refrain from accepting Iranian journalists they have indirectly belittled the Iranians. He further stressed that none of the American presidents have accepted foreign journalists in the absence of American journalists.
Moreover, such interviews should be aimed at reflecting the viewpoints of the interviewee rather than gaining prestige for the reporter. Undoubtedly foreign mass media will reflect the news and views of the Iranian officials relevant to their countries as their nations are eager for such reports, Mowlana said. Thus, these reports will soon be reflected whether told to the foreign journalists or the Iranians. Hence it would be better if our officials announce their viewpoints through Iranian journalists.
Alluding to the improvements in the fields of art, culture, cinema, sports, industry and science in the post-revolution era, Mowlana said, although Iran has introduced bright figures in all these fields, unfortunately it has failed to bring up a good journalist. Hence the onus is on all of us.
Training professional journalists to meet the requirements of the press should keep pace with the superstructural measures taken by cultural authorities. Mowlana, who is here at the invitation of the Ahl-ul-Bait World Assembly, to attend its 5-day conference, is of the opinion that the prevailing condition of the press is not satisfactory, for the Iranian officials have overlooked the training of professional journalists.
Mowlana said that although great strides have been taken in the country's press as compared to the years preceding the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, there is still a long way ahead. Mowlana, 61, worked with a leading Iranian daily Kayhan after he received his high school diploma in Tehran. Presently residing in the U.S., he received his Ph.D. in communications and international politics from North Western University in Evanston, Chicago. He has been teaching international relations and communications and conducting research in the same fields in various universities of the world for the past 33 years.
Highly interested in journalism, Professor Mowlana was the president of International Institute for Research in Communication and Mass Media. As a practical measure to improve the press, he suggested, the Iranian officials should avoid belittling Iranian journalists. They should bear in mind that if they interview with foreign journalists and refrain from accepting Iranian journalists they have indirectly belittled the Iranians. He further stressed that none of the American presidents have accepted foreign journalists in the absence of American journalists.
Moreover, such interviews should be aimed at reflecting the viewpoints of the interviewee rather than gaining prestige for the reporter. Undoubtedly foreign mass media will reflect the news and views of the Iranian officials relevant to their countries as their nations are eager for such reports, Mowlana said. Thus, these reports will soon be reflected whether told to the foreign journalists or the Iranians. Hence it would be better if our officials announce their viewpoints through Iranian journalists.
Alluding to the improvements in the fields of art, culture, cinema, sports, industry and science in the post-revolution era, Mowlana said, although Iran has introduced bright figures in all these fields, unfortunately it has failed to bring up a good journalist. Hence the onus is on all of us.